Tap, Tickle, Flex and Bond -- Startups Want To Grab Your Naked Wrists

While ‘wearable technology’ might not sound like the sexiest of apparel, startups are getting increasingly hot under the collar about the wrist -- as a great place to begin the gradual cyborg-ification of mankind. Wristbands that read your unique heartbeat to authenticate and unlock devices. Bracelets that allow your significant other to ‘touch’ your wrist wherever you are. Armbands that intensify your workout. These are all on the horizon.

Just two years after tech-fitness startup Jawbone launched UP, a rubber bracelet that doubles as a fitness tracker, the company released the new and improved UP24 last week. Designed to automatically chart your every attempt at hot yoga, kale smoothie or a full night’s sleep, UP is part of the “quantified self movement” – an industry which analysts at Berg Insight think will spawn 64 million wearable devices by 2017. The UP24, which looks exactly like the first UP but now has Bluetooth capability, is vying for space in the crowded market alongside other established players like Nike and Fitbit.

These players, along with a clutch of other new-breed gizmos, are jumping at the opportunity to grab you by the wrist, newly bare as smartphones have increasingly made watches obsolete.

First meet Myo by Canadian startup Thalmic Labs, an armband that translates motion and muscle activity in the wearer into gestures on a screen. Hunching over a mouse and keyboard could be a thing of the past as users browse the web from across the room with a flick of a wrist. As of June, Myo had 30,000 units on pre-order for its 2014 ship date, as well as thousands of developers signed up to design any app you can imagine.

For the serious athlete, meet Toronto-based startup PUSH. This device is aimed at athletes who want to go beyond fitness trackers’ “steps and reps” to track serious workouts in terms of balance, power, velocity and force. PUSH has so far raised just shy of $125,000 against the $80,000 it sought on indiegogo last month.

After their workout some users will want to trade out their PUSH for something a little more intimate. Another set of new devices, such as Kwamecorp’s BOND bracelet, are designed to allow couples separated by the cold of distance to nevertheless feel the warmth of each others’ touch.

“I prefer to call it a tickle – much more sexy,” says Kwame Ferreira, CEO of Kwamecorp. His company has spent $1.5 million developing the bracelets (as well as necklaces), which are expected to ship starting early 2014. At the tap of a sensor, the BOND will transmit a vibrating jolt to its counterpart, wherever your significant other has decided to wear it.

“Technology is so focused on the me, me, me!” said Ferreira. “I thought, why don’t we focus on the opportunity of creating a spectrum of emotional connection?”

A competing couples-oriented smart bracelet is being developed by TapTap, which has raised over $80,000 of a $130,000 Kickstarter campaign that ends Friday. TapTap CEO Mit Gorilovsky says his device is simpler to use than BOND.

The first batch of around 10,000 bracelets will be ready in April 2014. Gorilovsky added: “I’ve been approached by luxury companies in Switzerland and Russia that want to make a version with gold, silver-plated. Or with Swarovski crystals!”